Adam Lloyd Johnson

Bio

Adam Lloyd Johnson serves as a campus missionary with Ratio Christi. He also teaches philosophy at Theologisches Seminar Rheinland in Wölmersen, Germany. Adam is a PhD candidate at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Having worked in the field of actuarial science for 10 years after college, he then served as a Pastor for 8 years. While in his twenties he went through a crisis of faith: are there good reasons and evidence to believe God exists and the Bible is from Him? His search for answers led him to apologetics and propelled him into ministry with a passion to defend the truth of Christianity. He desires to serve others by equipping Christians and reaching the lost for Christ.

Adam has presented his work at the National Apologetics Conference, the Society of Christian Philosophers, the Evangelical Philosophical Society, the International Society of Christian Apologetics, the Canadian Centre for Scholarship and the Christian Faith, and the Evangelical Theological Society. His work has been published in the Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics, Philosophia Christi, the Westminster Theological Journal, and the Canadian Journal for Scholarship and the Christian Faith. Adam has spoken at numerous churches and conferences in America and around the world – L.A., Chicago, Charlotte, Canada, Germany, and Switzerland. He is currently putting a book together with William Lane Craig; Adam will serve as the Editor and author the first chapter.

Testimony

The Lord saved me on February 4th, 1994. I was just getting into the High School partying scene. My best friend Jeremy didn’t party for “religious” reasons. I figured our relationship would fall apart as I started hanging out with a different crowd. Instead of drifting away, he drew closer and invited me to his church. At one of the first events I attended a girl my age, Iris, walked me through the gospel. I had thought I was going to heaven because I was a “good” kid. That night in 1994 I realized I was a lost sinner and put my faith in Jesus for salvation. God has transformed my life since then in so many ways by freeing me from my flesh and empowering me to live for Him and others.

I believe my calling to serve others is a calling to a certain people group. But not a people group in the usual sense of race or ethnicity. Instead, I feel called to serve and reach those who have doubts and questions about whether Christianity is true. I feel called to serve Christians who are struggling with their faith and to reach those who’ve rejected Christianity. I think one of the reasons I feel called to this “people group” is that I was once like them. I use the example of someone who is saved out of drugs; who are they passionate to reach now? Those who are still addicted to drugs. Well, I was one of those people that had a lot of doubts and questions about Christianity and I was “rescued” out of that through Christians mentoring me and through apologetics. Thus I feel drawn to help others who are struggling like I was. It’s a specialized ministry, no doubt, but it’s just like being called to prison ministry, homeless ministry, or a specific tribe in Indonesia, or the Philippines, etc.

So those are the people I feel called to serve… but how do I go about reaching them? I think there are several key things to do in order to reach folks like this. First and foremost is building close personal relationships and friendships with them. Within these personal friendships I can show them I love them and care for them, and that I don’t just want to argue with them. Second, I think I need to provide good honest answers to honest questions. People have real concerns and we can’t say “don’t ask questions, just believe!” I think we have to work hard to answer their questions. Jesus and Paul were constantly answering people’s honest questions and helping them see the reasons and evidence there are to believe Christianity is true. So this entails a lot studying and research as well as answering people’s questions in the process of one-on-one discipleship, preaching, speaking, teaching, and writing. A ministry that combines personal relationships and providing honest answers to honest questions is a difficult combination, no doubt. Usually people emphasize one over the other. But Francis Schaeffer is my hero in this who I aspire to be like. He’s the best example I’ve ever seen of someone who emphasized both personal relationships and honest answers to honest questions.